Man, 24, jailed for attempting to bomb Nigerian church in USA

A federal court in the United States has sentenced a Pennsylvania man, Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, to 208 months (17 years and three months) for plotting with an international terrorist organisation, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) to bomb a Nigerian church in Pittsburgh, US.

Alowemer’s jail term would be followed by a lifetime of supervised release according to a press statement by the US Department of Justice signed by Assistant Attorney-General Matthew G. Olsen of DOJ National Security Division on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old pleaded guilty in the Western District of Pennsylvania on September 16, 2021, to one count of attempting to offer material support to ISIS in connection with his plan to attack the said church.

The statement read, “Alowemer admitted to planning a deadly bombing of a Pittsburgh church in the name of ISIS,” said Olsen.

The defendant’s plan to bomb a Pittsburgh church and risk death or injury to residents in the area in the name of ISIS was thwarted by the extraordinary work of the Pittsburgh Joint Terrorism Task Force,” said US Attorney Cindy K. Chung for the Western District of Pennsylvania..

According to court documents, Alowemer plotted to bomb a church located on the north side of Pittsburgh using an explosive device. His stated motivation to conduct such an attack was to support the cause of ISIS and to inspire other ISIS supporters in the United States to join together and commit similar acts in the name of ISIS.

Alowemer also targeted the church, which he described as a “Nigerian Christian” church, to “take revenge for our [ISIS] brothers in Nigeria.” Alowemer was aware that numerous people in the proximity of the church could be killed by the explosion.

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In furtherance of the plot to bomb the church, in May 2019, Alowemer dispersed several instructional documents related to the construction and use of explosives and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to an individual Alowemer believed to be a fellow ISIS supporter, but who was in fact an FBI employee.